1. Field of the Invention
The invention generally relates to a radiant heater including a burner and a heater tube that receives heated gas from the burner and radiates heat to a target area.
2. Description of the Related Art
Radiant heaters are used in many applications to provide heat to an area, such as a floor. The radiant heater is suspended above the area to radiate heat downwardly onto the area. Radiant heaters can be used in agricultural enclosures such as chick brooders, poultry barns, dairy barns, etc., to radiantly heat a floor of the enclosure on which livestock reside. Radiant heaters are also used to provide heat in many other applications such as factories, warehouses, restaurants, and patios.
The radiant heater heats the area in a heating pattern. The heating pattern is defined by a temperature rise on the area caused by the radiant heater. Difficulties occur with radiant heaters when attempting to provide a uniform heating pattern below the heater. Specifically, as shown in the prior art FIG. 13, radiant heaters generally produce a non-uniform heating pattern, i.e., a varying temperature gradient, that includes hot spots having a higher temperature than surrounding areas. The hot spots are also defined by drastic variations in temperature of short distances along the area. These hot spots are problematic in agricultural enclosures because the hot spots disadvantageously make the livestock uncomfortable. As a result, the livestock avoid the hot spots thereby decreasing the effective size of the enclosure and reducing the yield of the stock. Similarly, on other applications in which people are subjected to the heat of the radiant heater, e.g., factories, warehouses, restaurants, patios, etc., the hot spots disadvantageously make people uncomfortable such that the people try to avoid the hot spots.
In addition, radiant heaters can use surrounding ambient air for combustion. In other words, such radiant heaters combine fuel with the air surrounding the radiant heater and combust the fuel/air mixture. As such, the oxygen content in the air surrounding the radiant heater is depleted by the radiant heater. Such depletion in oxygen content can be particularly detrimental in an agricultural enclosure in which the livestock require oxygen. Further, for exemplary purposes, such depletion is especially detrimental in a chick brooder, which typically already has increased levels of ammonia.
Accordingly, there remains an opportunity to manufacture a radiant heater that beneficially addresses the deficiencies set forth above. In other words, there remains an opportunity to manufacture a radiant heater that emits a uniform heating pattern. There also remains an opportunity to manufacture a radiant heater that draws air from a remote location so as to deliver fresh air to the radiant heater without depleting oxygen content in the air surrounding the radiant heater.